The long-­awaited companion to bestsellers and Eight years after, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-­altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-­thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck's reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle--­disguised and alone--­to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-­five-­year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past. Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck's reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn't yet identified, holds a key to her heart.